Health & Wealth Desk

This year marks a grim birthday: it was thirty years ago that the first AIDS victims were officially diagnosed. Though the rate of new HIV infections in the US has stabilized in recent years, the percentage of those in rural areas has been on the rise. In this weekly Health & Wealth update, World AIDS Day.

In rural Missouri, there are roughly half as many primary care doctors per person, compared to urban parts of the state.  That's a problem, when you consider that rural residents are also older (about three years, on average) and poorer (about five percent more live in poverty). In this Health & Wealth report, small towns in Missouri are facing the shortage by "growing their own" doctors and nurses, starting as early as middle school.

The US Postal Service is hemorrhaging money – over the past year, it lost more than $5 billion. To staunch the negative cash flow, the postmaster general is looking at closing nearly 3,700 post offices – the vast majority in rural America. In this week's Health & Wealth update, KBIA's Austin Fax checks in to some very small towns where post offices may be on the chopping block.

Backers compare health insurance exchanges to Travelocity or Expedia. Websites where you can quickly compare prices and features to get the best deal. But detractors oppose them as a federal intrusion into the health care market. In this weekly Health & Wealth update, Missourians debate the merits of Obama's health reform law, as state lawmakers try to decide whether to authorize an exchange.

Six months ago, an EF5 tornado plowed through the center of Joplin, leaving about one-fifth of the city's population without a home. Now, people are slowly getting back to normal. For some, normal means lacing up the running shoes and hitting the streets.